Corn-harvester.



J. B. OUREN.

CORN HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9,1911. 1,039, 180. Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

COLUMBIA nANouRAPn cm, WASHINGTON. D c.

J. B. OUREN.

I CORN HARVBSTER. APPLIOATION rum) mm: a, 1911.

1 ,039, 1 80, Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' %23 [a m 9 y COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH CO WASHINUTON. n. c.

J. B. OUREN.

CORN HARVESTER. I

APPLICATION TILED 11mm, 1911.

1,039,180. Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

4 sums-anamsj Witnesses I gzgmior/ 1351 his Aitorneys', w W MM yaw J. B.OURBN.

CORN HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED 11mm, 1011.

1,039,180. Patented Sept. 24,1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

1123215265565, Evasion d0 (5: 6 B hisAfioZZf 4% W 4 a; W1

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. OUBEN, or HANSKA, MINNESOTA.

CORN-HARVESTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. ()UREN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hanska, in the county of Brown and State of Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Harvesters; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an extremely simple andhighly efficient corn harvester, and to such ends, the inventionconsists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafterdescribed and defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accom- )anying drawings wherein likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a rear elevation of the improvedharvester; Fig. 2 is a plan view showing those portions'of the machinewhich are at the right of the line marked m on Fig. 1, some parts beingbroken away; Fig. 3 is an ob lique longitudinal section taken on theline .11 m of Fig. 1, some parts being indicated by dotted lines andsome parts being broken away; Fig. lis a detail in rear elevation withsome parts broken away, illustrating the construction of the elevator,the snapping rollers, and the co-called picking chains; and Fig. 5 is afragmentary view showing the picking chains and certain of the supportstherefor.

The main frame 1 of the machine is carried by a main traction wheel 2,and by a relatively small balancing wheel 3. A pair of long parallelgathering frames l5 are rigidly supported by the main frame 1, and areset in upright positions extending in a horizontal direction oblique tothe direction of the travel of the machine. Endless gathering chains 6and 7 are arranged to run over suitable driving and guiding sprockets,the shafts 8 of the former and the shafts 9 of the latter being suitablyournaled on the said frames 45, respectively. The driving shafts 8 areprovided at their upper ends with beveled gears 10, that mesh withpinions 11 carried by the ends of a short counter-shaft 12, mounted insuitable hearings on the said frames 45.

The gathering chains 6 and 7 are pro- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 9, 1911.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

Serial No. 632,187.

vided with projecting gathering fingers 13 which cooperate at the innerrearwardly moving runs of the chains to gather the standing stalks andproperly deliver the same rearward to so-called pickers or pickingchains, presently to be described. An elevator frame 1 1 embraces orextends over the traction wheel 2 and is secured to the main frame 1 onopposite sides of the said wheel. A horizontal shaft 15 is journaled insuitable bearings on the rear portion of the frame 1, and an obliqueshaft 16 is journaled in suitable hearings on the rear portion of thesaid frame 1 and on the rear upper portion-of elevator frame 14. Both ofthese shafts 15 and 16 are driven from the traction wheel 2 by any ofthe well known means, such, for instance, as a chain of gears 17 and asprocket and chain drive 18 indicated in part in Fig. 1. At its lowerend, one of the shafts 8 of the gathering de vice is provided with abeveled gear 10" similar to the beveled gear 10 of said shaft, butinverted in respect thereto, and meshing with a beveled pinion 19 on theshaft 15. By the connections described, it is evident that feedingmovements are imparted to the gathering chains 6 and 7 under forwardmovement of the machine.

The numeral 20 indicates the frame and the numeral 21 the sprocketdriven chain of a supplemental gathering device, shown as applied on thegathering frame 5, which constitutes no part of the present invention,but is a feature hitherto quite generally employed, and hence, requiresno detailed description.

The gathering chains 6 and 7 deliver the standing stalks between thefront portions of a pair of so-called picking chains 22, that areprovided with cooperating blade-like picking teeth or fingers 23. Thesechains 22 run over suitable sprockets 24 carried by shafts 25. Theseshafts 25 are journaled in suitable bearing-yokes 26 secured on the mainframe 1, and so set that the said shafts are inclined from the righttoward the left in respect to the direction of travel of the machine, atan angle of about degrees to the perpendicular (see particularly Fig.1). The rear portions of these picking chains 22 deliver the stalksdirectly between the lower ends of a pair of cooperating snappingrollers 27, the shafts'of which are also journaled in the rearbearing-yoke 26 and are inclined at the same angle as the said shafts25. One of the shafts 2'5, to-wit, the left hand rear member, isutilized as the shaft of the lower or left hand snapping roller 27. Theshafts of the snapping rollers 27 are connected by intermeshing spurgears 28. One of the gears 28 carries a sprocket 29 and the othercarries a beveled pinion 30. A sprocket chain 31 runs over the sprocket29 and over a sprocket 32 on the upper end of the right hand rear shaft25. The beveled pinion meshes with a beveled gear 33 carried by theoblique driving shaft 16. Connections have now been described fordriving the gathering chains, the picking chains, and the snappingrollers.

An endless inclined slat-equipped elevator belt 34 is arranged to runover suitable guide rollers on the upper and lower portions of theelevator frame 14 and will operate to deliver the unhusked corn heads toa husking mill, or device indicated as an entirety by the numeral 35,and shown as supported by the left hand portion of the main frame 1. Thehusked ears are adapted to be carried from the husking mill 35 anddelivered into a wagon or other suitable receptacle by a deliveryelevator 36 carried by the left hand portion of the said frame 1. Theelevators 34 and 36 may be driven from the traction wheel 2 by any wellknown or suitable driving connections. The husking mill 35, in itself,constitutes no part of the present invention, and in as much as it is amechanism well known, it need not be here described in detail. The uppersurface of the elevator belt 34 extends forward immediately in front ofthe snapping rollers 27 and preferably, extends slightly below the lowersnapping roller so that all of the corn heads snapped from the stalkswill be delivered directly on to the said belt. The up wardly extendedsides of the elevator frame 14 forms sort of a trough in which theelevator belt 34 is arranged to work, and at various different pointslongitudinally of the said belt, the said elevator frame is providedwith transverse partitions 37 that are spaced far enough above the uppersurface of the elevator belt to permit all of the ears to be passedthereunder. Each partition 37 is provided with a gravity-held hingedplate 38, the lower portions of which are indicated in Fig. 4, thehinges thereof permitting the same to freely swing upward for animportant purpose.

Operation: When the machine is driven forward, the standing stalks aredelivered between the converging front ends of the gathering frames '4and 5 and are engaged by the teeth of the gathering chains 6 and 7 andunder forward movement of the machine, the stalks thus engaged, are, bythe said gathering chains, gently bent into inclined positions towardthe left, and when they have been inclined at approximately forty-fivedegrees they are delivered between the front portions of the so-calledpicking chains 22. By the overlapping teeth 23 of these picking chains,the stalks are held in such manner that no ear of corn which may besevered from the stalk before reaching the snapping rollers, can escapeor drop to the ground, but will be delivered to the lower portion of theelevator belt 34. By the said picking chains and their coiiperatingteeth or blades 23, the stalks are positively and accurately deliveredbetween the snapping rollers 27, and it is here important to note thatthe frame-work which supports the lower ends of the snapping rollers isopen so that the stalks may pass laterally there through and between thesnapping rollers.

As the stalks are passed. between the snapping rollers, the ears, withthe husks attached thereto, are snapped from the stalks and fall ontothe elevator belt 34. This machine may be equipped to pick up and snapears that are less than one foot from the ground, and the elevator belt34 will catch and elevate all of these. Ears located high on the stalkswill be delivered onto the elevator belt-34 above certain of thepartitions 3738 and the latter will prevent the ears from fallingdownward to the lowermost portion of the elevator belt. The elevatorbelt will, therefore, pick up the ears approximately at the point fromwhere they are snapped from the stalks. The hinged plates 38 readilyyield to permit the ears to be carried upward under the variouspartitions 37 The ears are, as already indicated, delivered by theelevator belt 34 to the husking mill 35 and the husked ears aredelivered from thence, by the delivery elevator 36 into a wagon boxdriven at the side of the harvester, or, in any other suitablereceptacle, or upon the ground, for that matter, if such delivery weredesired.

Nearly all of the weight of the machine is carried by the traction ordriving wheel 2 and the pole, not shown, is adapted to be attachednearly or directly in front of the said traction wheel, so that therewill be no side draft on the machine.

The efliciency of the machine is very greatly increased by setting thestripper rollers obliquely instead of arranging the same lengthwise ofthe travel of the machine, as has hitherto been customary. The stalksare gradually and gently bent into oblique positions and are positivelyand accurately delivered to the snapping rollers, so that there is nodanger of waste due to leaving ears on the stalks. The stalks,themselves, are not broken up but are only slightly crushed in passing,between the snapping rollers.

What I claim is:

1. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely .in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel,cooperating parallel gathering chains set oblique in respect to the lineof travel, and cooperating devices for delivering the stalks from saidgathering chains to and between said snapping rollers.

2. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel,cooperating gathering chains set oblique in respect to the line oftravel, and cooperating devices for delivering the stalks from saidgathering chains to and between said snapping rollers, said cooperatingdevices working in a plane that is at right angles to said rollers.

3. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel,cooperating parallel picking chains set oblique in respect to the lineof travel, for delivering the stalks to and between said snappingrollers, and means for guiding the stalks to said picking chains.

4. In a corn harvester, cooperating snap-- ping rollers set obliquely ina vertical plane that transversely intersect-s the line of travel,cooperating picking chains having overlapping blades or fingers workingin oblique planes that are at right angles to the said rollers, fordelivering the stalks to and between said snapping rollers, and meansfor guiding the stalks to said picking chains.

5. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel,cooperating horizontally extended picking chains having overlappingblades or fingers working in oblique planes that are at right angles tothe said rollers, for delivering the stalks to and between said snappingrollers, and means for guiding said stalks to said picking chains.

6. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel,cooperating horizontally extended picking chains having overlappingblades or fingers working in oblique planes that are at right angles tothe said rollers, for delivering the stalks to and between said snappingrollers, means for guiding said stalks to said picking chains, and anelevator arranged to receive the stalks from said snapping rollers.

7. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely'in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel, that areapproximately of the same diameter from end to end, one of said snappingrollers extending slightly below the other, cooperating horizontallyextending picking chains having overlapping blades or fingers, workingin oblique planes that extend at right angles from the lower ends ofsaid rollers, for delivering the stalks to and between said snappingrollers, and means for guiding the stalks to said picking chains.

8. In a corn harvester, cooperating snapping rollers set obliquely in avertical plane that transversely intersects the line of travel, that areof approximately the same diameter from end to end, one of said simpiing rollers extending slightly below the other, cooperatinghorizontally extended inner and outer picking chains having blades orfingers, the blades of said outer picking chains overlapping the bladesof the said inner chain, said blades or fingers working in obliqueplanes that extend at right angles from the lower ends of said rollers,for delivering the stalks to and between said snapping rollers, meansfor guiding said stalks to said picking chains, and an elevatorunderlying said rollers and extending below said gathering chains.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN B. OUREN.

Witnesses:

IMAR TOENBERG, GUS. BRUDELIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

